NFC East Notes: Cowboys, Giants, Redskins

Cowboys

Cowboys backup QB Cooper Rush has been taking some first-team reps in practice this week while usual starter Dak Prescott recovers from a shoulder injury suffered in Sunday’s win against the Rams. Rush would see time in the game if Prescott can’t go, but he said from personal experience with the same injury he expects Prescott to play. 

“After a few days it felt fine,” Rush said via the Athletic’s Jon Machota about when he sprained his AC joint in college. “It’s a pretty universal QB injury. You just rest it for a few days, and it’s usually fine. That’s how I dealt with it. That’s how Dak is dealing with it. It’ll be all good.”

• Prescott told reporters he dealt with a similar injury his senior year of college and he expects to play Sunday, though he might not throw until the weekend: “I’m getting better. Simple as that. Mobility and function, it’s all improving. That’s the key. That’s the goal. I’ll be good to go Sunday.” (Michael Gehlken)
• Cowboys HC Jason Garrett confirmed Prescott, “probably won’t throw it very much today. I think rest is probably the best thing for him. … He’s progressing, but he hasn’t really tested it that much, though.” (Gehlken)
• Per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones said the team has continued negotiations with Prescott and its failure to agree to a deal doesn’t reflect a lack of confidence in his future: “It’s kind of gotten out there, we’ve got big offers on the table to Dak and always have. If anything, we’ve got more confidence than we’ve ever had in him. All he’s done is gone out and proven that he deserves to make money. And we’ve certainly offered him a lot of money.”

Giants

Giants first-round rookie QB Daniel Jones seems poised to return to the starting lineup this week against the Redskins after a two-game absence. When he comes back, Jones says his biggest focus, aside from winning, will be cutting back on the turnovers that have marred his debut season. 

“I think ball security obviously is the big thing,” Jones said, via Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. “Making sure I’m doing my part in protecting the ball and that way giving us the best chance to win. The most important thing these last two weeks is to win the games. So my role in that, ball security plays a big part in it. [It’s about] understanding that fine line and being able to play with that. Being able to protect the ball but also being aggressive is our job, and it’s what we’re trained to do and coached to do. So that balance and that skill and being able to do that is what you have to do to be good at this level. So I’ve worked on it, but I think you have to be able to do both.”

• SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano says there’s no internal indication within the organization that the Giants plan to fire GM Dave Gettleman, though the only people who really know are owners John Mara and Steve Tisch. 
• Vacchiano adds that if New York fires Gettleman like many around the league expect, it could consider Giants cap expert Kevin Abrams, Patriots exec Nick Caserio, ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, former Falcons assistant GM Scott Pioli, former Texans GM Rick Smith, NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah, Browns assistant GM Eliot Wolf, Colts assistant GM Ed Dodds, Chiefs director of football operations Mike Borgonzi and Vikings assistant GM George Paton.

Redskins

Giants first-round rookie QB Dwayne Haskins got his first NFL action against the Giants back at the beginning of the season, and the results were rough. Haskins had three interceptions on 17 pass attempts and to this day finds it hard to look at the tape of the game. 

“I throw up watching that film,” Haskins said via Les Carpenter of the Washington Post. “I don’t want to talk about it. It’s done with.”

With Haskins’ second battle against the Giants coming this week, he feels like he’s a completely different quarterback than the first time New York saw him. 

“It isn’t that I don’t like the tape. It’s just I’m a whole different player than I was back then,” he said. “I feel watching that tape is not me and it wasn’t me out there. You want to look at it and be like, ‘That’s what I messed up on,’ and move on from it. I don’t mind watching it. I just prefer to watch something else.”

• Per ESPN’s John Keim, Redskins DC Greg Manusky said the team doesn’t plan to play CB Josh Norman more even with the injuries at the position. 
• The Redskins worked out six cornerbacks on Tuesday including Briean Boddy-Calhoun, Chris Campbell, Dee Delaney, KeiVarae Russell, Coty Sensabaugh, and Kayvon Webster. (Howard Balzer)
• Of this group, Washington signed Sensabaugh and Webster to their active roster.